*I don't wanna say that my vaporware bogometer is going off with Ms Microsoft Clippy here, but what's to prevent these attractive semantic spambots from multiplying like rabbits and driving all the human beings off the Web?
What’s Worse Than Romance Scams? Adoption Scams
This week in WIRED Book Club, we recap the final chapters of The Yahoo Boys.
Kate Knibbs
A Leaked Memo Ties Cyberattacks on Minnesota Water Utilities to Iran
A memo obtained by WIRED, issued by the water utilities information sharing group WaterISAC, links dozens of cyberattacks against Minnesota water utilities to Tehran.
Andy Greenberg
Use AWS? Thanks to a Billing Glitch, That’ll Be $3 Billion
An error with the cloud computing giant’s billing operation caused some customers’ monthly bills to rise from a few cents to billions of dollars.
Caroline Haskins
Plex Keeps Getting Worse. Is Jellyfin a Decent Replacement?
If you want to stream local media, this free and open source media server is just as good as Plex. But if you rely on remote access or live TV, prepare to tinker.
Justin Pot
New York Governor Signs First Statewide Data Center Moratorium
“We have no choice but to address the challenges created by these massive facilities,” New York governor Kathy Hochul said. The executive order will pause construction for one year.
Molly Taft
An Extreme Solar Storm May Be Even More Devastating Than Previously Imagined
Scientists have long assumed that there’s an upper limit to the intensity of the solar winds that reach Earth. New research suggests there’s not—and the implications are alarming.
Javier Carbajal
Sotheby’s Big T. Rex Auction Raises Concerns Hype and Wealth Are Upending Science
Private buyers are increasingly outbidding museums for fossils. That’s making it difficult—or even impossible—for researchers to improve our understanding of the past.
Kate Wong
A Typo Landed an Innocent Gamer in Prison for 18 Months
How much could a single underscore in a username really matter? Just ask Brandon Klayme, who served 18 months in prison before realizing how authorities arrested, charged, and convicted the wrong man.
Nate Anderson, Ars Technica
Satellite Images Reveal How Suspected Scam Compounds Appear Out of Nowhere
Analysis of satellite images of Myanmar shows dozens of alleged scam compounds have appeared in recent months, despite a purported crackdown on the criminal organizations.
Matt Burgess
Prompt Injection Attacks Are Thwarting AI Hacking Agents
“Context bombing” tricks malicious AI agents into shutting down before they can do harm.
Dan Goodin, Ars Technica
One of NASA’s Most Important Deep Space Observatories Hit by Spanish Wildfires
Flames burned through the Deep Space Communications Complex near Madrid, but NASA has been unable to assess the damage as a wildfire emergency grips the region.
Brian Kahn
The CDC Has a Cyclospora Lab. DOGE Downsized It Last Year
“Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” the former CDC lab director tells WIRED.
Emily Mullin